In the Flesh: The purity problem

Episode 19: In this episode we examine the language of purity, and the way it is used within the Christian tradition. To do so, we explore the psychology of disgust, the principles of contamination, and what all of this has to do with our sense of embodiment. In particular, religious language about sex and sexuality is shaped almost entirely by a purity discourse. But there are some problems that arise when the binary language of purity is used as the primary framework for this arena of our lives. When someone comes to see themselves as "impure", this can lay the ground for feelings of self-loathing and guilt, as well as anger and rejection toward others.

This episode draws on the insights of psychologist and experimental theologian Richard Beck, who explores how the language of purity in Christianity intersects with a psychology of disgust in shaping social and religious exclusion (and how love transforms this paradigm). To read more, see his book -Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality and Mortality.